


We Go Way Back

by jesuisherve



Category: Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Genre: Developing Relationship, First Time, M/M, Open Relationships, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Teen Years, toothpick bitchslap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-15
Updated: 2014-07-15
Packaged: 2018-02-08 23:36:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1960473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesuisherve/pseuds/jesuisherve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vic Vega and Eddie Cabot have known each other since high school.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Go Way Back

They’re eighteen and graduation is creeping up. Vic’s scraping by with barely passable grades. Eddie’s doing well enough; keeping his average acceptable to continue playing football. Coach’s approval and his father’s gruff acknowledgements of his efforts keep him inspired to study. Teachers look at Eddie’s record and shake their heads while asking themselves how he’s managed to fall in with _that_ _Vega boy_. The administrators who know more about Eddie’s family life shrug— _c’est la vie_ — especially since his father is Joe Cabot. It is not a surprise for cheerful Eddie Cabot to be drawn to delinquent Vic Vega.

Eddie smiles easy and wears his football jacket with pride. He’s not the greatest player on the team but he’s well-liked and he throws everything he has into playing. One of the school’s guidance counsellors, a woman named Alice Campbell, calls him in to speak about negative influences. She asks him about his friends, his goals for the future, his role models. Eddie seems put off by the impromptu meeting and is not forthcoming with answers. He has a vague idea it’s about his friendship with Vic Vega, but doesn’t ask. He leaves the meeting feeling confused and sad.

His daddy likes Vic. His dad is one of the only people who ever said Vic was worth something. Eddie can clearly see Vic’s worth, why can’t anyone else at school see it too? He is written off quickly by teachers and other students. Eddie hates it while Vic feels indifferent.

Vic Vega is not a boy with great academic aspirations. He goes to school because it is required and skips whenever possible. He could probably do better if he applied himself, he isn’t dumb, but he doesn’t consider the high school as a primary institution of learning. Vic learns more from hanging around with Eddie and his father. Vic’s brother Vincent seems to be pursuing that kind of education too; an education on how to earn money, on how to meet the right people, on how to watch your back, but Eddie’s father, Joe, has taken a shine to Vic in particular.

Vic spends more time at Eddie’s house than his own. He and Eddie are inseparable; Vic even shows up at the last football game of the season. When Eddie takes his helmet off at the end of the game, Vic jumps on him and pounds on his back with enthusiasm, shouting how the other team got absolutely crushed and that they’re gonna celebrate.

They take off to the beach in Eddie’s car with their girlfriends in the backseat. Wind streams in through open windows and Vic’s smoking a joint and the radio’s blasting a rock n roll station. The girls are used to sitting together rather than with their men. They don’t quite understand the boys’ friendship but they accept it. Eddie’s cheeks are pink with the thrill of victory and he’s talking about potential football scholarships for college. Vic snorts a laugh, he doesn’t think either of them will continue school, and passes the joint to Eddie.

It’s late enough that the beach is deserted. The two couples settle on the sand and watch the water from a distance. Eventually they’ll split up to get some privacy but for the moment, Eddie’s kissing his girlfriend and Vic is kissing his. Eddie looks up; he looks at the couple next to them over his Evelyn’s dark hair, and finds Vic looking back at him. Vic’s girl, Julie, has her mouth on his neck and Vic raises an eyebrow at Eddie. He flashes a smile before he grabs Julie’s shoulder and says “let’s go over there, huh?”

Eddie forces himself to close his eyes as Vic and Julie get up and move somewhere more private. He touches Evelyn’s hair and smells her perfume and pulls her closer to see how her body feels crushed against his. She murmurs something to him, how handsome he looked in his uniform, and he kisses her hard. Eddie pretends that it isn’t his best friend’s face he sees in the dark behind his eyelids, he pretends it isn’t Vic Vega he’s thinking of when Evelyn’s hands reach into his pants.

Later, closer to dawn than to night, Eddie’s chest hurts with heaving breaths. His bedroom door is shut tight and he’s on his bed with a hand clamped over his mouth. His other hand is wrapped around his cock and he’s staring at the ceiling and wondering what Vic would taste like.

He breaks up with Evelyn a week later. When asked he says it’s because he needs to focus on school now that football is over. He doesn’t say that it’s because he can’t stop imagining that she’s his best friend when they’re having sex, he doesn’t say how he wasn’t paying her enough attention. Their time together was beginning to feel like an obligation, their interactions felt like apologies for Eddie always being absent. Absent by avoiding her, absent when they were together because his mind was elsewhere. He doesn’t say that he’s mixed up about himself. Eddie doesn’t even tell Vic about what he’s feeling; about how he wants to kiss him but how he knows he still likes girls. Eddie’s afraid that he’ll be labelled ‘faggot’. He’s afraid of what his dad would say.

Graduation arrives and Evelyn is going with David Stone. Eddie is split between being happy for her and jealous. After the ceremony and the dinner, Eddie is on his way to being drunk. Their prom is supposed to be dry but he’s Joe Cabot’s son. He knows how to get what he wants and what he wants is to get good and _hammered._

Vic ditches his date to take Eddie out to the beach after the new graduates are let loose to mingle and dance. They take Eddie’s car and Vic drives. Eddie’s tugging his tie off and shrugging out of his suit jacket. At the beach, Eddie leaves his shoes and socks in the car. He walks barefoot along the sand. Vic lags behind him, smoking a cigarette. Eddie’s steps are not steady but he keeps going. The sand is a bitch to walk on and soon Eddie realizes exactly how drunk he is. He stops abruptly and sits in the sand. He’ll have to get his clothes dry cleaned later but he doesn’t worry about it now. Vic stands next to him. They’re silent. There’s nothing to say. Vic is usually perplexed by other people’s emotions so Eddie doesn’t try to explain. He’s grateful that Vic even picked up on the fact that he was feeling badly.

Eddie tilts his head up at Vic. The other boy is finishing his smoke. His dark hair is tousled back in waves and his tie has also been pulled loose. Eddie reaches to tug on Vic’s pant leg. “Sit,” he says.

“Naw,” Vic replies. “Don’t wanna get sandy.”

Eddie makes a frustrated noise. He wants to be physically close to Vic, he needs to be close. At least that’s what his drunk brain is telling him. It takes a few minutes of struggling, but Eddie gets to his feet. He brushes sand off his knees and the seat of his pants. He claps his palms together to knock the last few grains of sand off. Vic pitches the butt of his cigarette into the ocean. Eddie watches the smooth motion, the way Vic’s shoulders shift under his tux jacket, and he grabs Vic’s lapels. He kisses the other boy hard. He feels Vic’s teeth sink into his lip and tastes blood on his tongue.  When they pull apart, Eddie wipes at his mouth and it stings but Vic’s grinning wide and he’s got a smear of red at the corner of his lips.

“How long you been waiting to do that?”

Eddie huffs and walks back to the car.

\--

Vic acts like he was waiting on Eddie the whole time to make the first move. Eddie gets annoyed at this because it feels unfair. Why was it left up to him to take initiative? Vic seems unbothered by it all. He kisses Eddie as easily as he makes passes at girls. Eddie is not even close to being that comfortable with it. He wishes that Vic would understand how hard it is for him to think about _them_ and what it means to him personally that he likes kissing his best friend. His male best friend.

There’s a mental list of _Things Not To Do_ that Vic has. He doesn’t always understand why people behave the way they do, or why they feel certain things or whatever. Life is like a board game and everyone but Vic was given the rule book. Eddie rarely talks about his feelings but when he does, Vic listens and adds to his list if he needs to. _Things Not To Do_ is a list that Vic created for his own social survival. Vic wouldn’t accommodate anyone else this way, but Eddie’s his best friend and that makes him _A Person of Import._

_\--_

The first time they have sex it’s awkward and sloppy and doesn’t last very long. Joe is gone for the weekend to Las Vegas and Eddie elected to stay home to keep Vic company. His parents are in the middle of a messy divorce and his brother Vince left the week before to look for work. Joe tells the boys not to break anything and to replace any booze they drink. He doesn’t care how they do it as long as his liquor cabinet is fully stocked by the time he returns.

It’s Friday night and they’ve been drinking vodka and Sprite while smoking Red Apples and watching bad sci-fi movies on TV. Vic knocks Eddie over onto the couch and Eddie pulls him down as he falls. He kisses Vic and grinds his hips into him. It looks like wrestling rather than kissing, but clothes are soon shed and Eddie’s heart is beating so fast he thinks he might pass out. Vic is goddamn gorgeous. He’s got the faintly defined muscles of someone with a fast metabolism. The hair on his stomach and his groin is as black as the hair on his head. His dick is erect and Eddie hesitates when Vic gives him a meaningful look. He knows what he wants to do, but he isn’t sure if it’s okay to.

“Put it in your mouth,” Vic suggests almost casually. He’s leaning back on the arm of the couch, eyeing Eddie’s equally naked body. Eddie’s not as slim or muscled as Vic is, but his chest is covered with hair and his thighs are thick and strong. Blood rushes to Eddie’s cheeks. He isn’t as cavalier as the other boy, but he gets off the couch and on his knees. Vic shifts his position so he’s sitting with Eddie between his legs. Eddie bends forward, eyes half closed, and takes Vic’s cock into his mouth. He almost gags; he didn’t expect it to be so big, but he grabs Vic’s thighs and moves his head slowly. Vic’s hands creep into his hair and Eddie is reassured by it. He thinks desperately about the blow jobs he had gotten from girls in the past and mimics them the best he can. After a few minutes of this, Vic taps Eddie’s shoulder.

“Want me to put it in you?”

Eddie looks up at him, blue eyes bright and cheeks red. He licks his lips. “You mean...?”

“I wanna fuck you.”

\--

Vic’s cock fills him down there as much as it filled his mouth. They’re on the floor. The couch was deemed too narrow to fit both of them. Eddie’s on all fours and Vic is pushing into him. He’s going faster than Eddie would prefer but he doesn’t say anything, afraid to interrupt the moment, to make Vic lose his nerve. Vic snaps his hips forward and Eddie can’t stop himself from crying out. It hurts a little but it feels good, too. They didn’t lube up, neither of them owns any, but Vic coated himself with spit before putting his dick in Eddie’s ass.

“Fuck,” Vic grunts. Eddie can hear the grin in his voice. “You look goddamn good on my dick, Eddie.” He thrusts again and Eddie braces himself on his forearms for more stability.

“You gonna dirty talk me?” Eddie says teasingly. He’s starting to relax now that he knows Vic’s really enjoying it and isn’t gonna quit unexpectedly with the words _‘I’m not a fuckin faggot like you’_ on his lips.

“I can do that,” Vic puts his hands on Eddie’s hips and holds him tightly. “You fuckin whore.”

Eddie closes his eyes and moans as Vic builds a rhythm. It doesn’t go on for long, they’ve both jumpy. Eddie makes a strangled noise when Vic cums. It’s the strangest feeling Eddie’s ever experienced; to be cummed in. It’s messy and neither of them knows what to say. But Eddie’s still got a hard on and Vic jerks him off before they go to clean up. They decide that condoms might be a good idea next time after all.

The next morning they drive to Big Kahuna Burger to get hangover food. They’re quiet during the drive and Vic’s eyes are unreadable behind sunglasses. They bring the food back to Eddie’s place to eat. The restaurant was too loud and bright for either of them to stand.

“So what does this make us?” Eddie asks as he unwraps his burger.

“What do you mean?”

Eddie rolls his eyes. “Last night. We fucked. What does that make us?”

Vic grunts, annoyed. “Does it matter?” He takes a bite of his burger.

“I think so,” Eddie says.

They eat in silence. Eddie knows that he can’t press Vic during emotional conversations. He waits patiently for Vic to gather his thoughts and present them in his own way.

“It doesn’t matter what we are,” Vic says. “Don’t sweat it.”

\--

They’re twenty years old now. Eddie never did go to college and Vic still floats around like he has nothing he’s tied to. Eddie’s getting more involved with his daddy’s business and he’s pestering Joe to let Vic in on it, too.

Joe has an old friend named Larry. Eddie’s known him for most of his life and he tries to recruit Larry for his cause, but Larry shakes his head. “It’s up to Joe to decide if he wants to risk young kids,” Larry tells him. “You’re his son and Vic might as well be. It’s a big risk, Eddie.”

“How else will we learn?” Eddie snaps. “I can’t take over for Daddy one day by just watchin. Vic can’t make money on ‘soon’.”

Larry gives him a level look. He lights a cigarette, blows out a cloud of smoke, and shakes his head. “You gotta talk to him, Nice Guy. I’m not stepping in. Not my place.”

Eddie rants about it later to his girlfriend, Sylvia. She listens sympathetically but offers him no advice that Larry didn’t already give. “I gotta go talk to Vic,” Eddie says grumpily. Sylvia’s face falls but he pretends not to see it. He knows that he spends more time at Vic’s than with Sylvia. It’s a replay of high school and Evelyn.

He arrives at Vic’s apartment and knocks rapidly on the door. Vic opens it with a sharp “the fuck do you want?” His eyes land on Eddie and he grins. “Please tell me you got some good news.”

“I fuckin wish,” Eddie says as he steps into the apartment. “Gonna have to talk to Daddy again tomorrow. You should come this time. He has a harder time saying no to you.”

“Seems to run in the family,” Vic says with a laugh. “You can’t say no to me either.”

Eddie reaches out to kiss Vic. “C’mere,” he mutters, “haven’t kissed ya in awhile.”

Vic bites his bottom lip. “My chick’s been keeping me busy.” His kisses are always full of teeth and Eddie finds himself craving them while getting soft kisses from his girlfriend. Vic’s fire and iron. It’s hard to compete with that. Sylvia’s good in bed and she’s a sweet girl, but she can’t make Eddie shake and scream the way Vic does.

They drift apart sometimes. They see other people, mostly women. The last time Eddie showed interest in another guy, Vic got real jealous and angry. Eddie let it drop without another word and kept Vic in the apartment for the weekend to show him he couldn’t be replaced.

They always end up back together.

They never label what they are.

Eddie sometimes toys with the idea of calling Vic his boyfriend, but he can’t get up the nerve to say it out loud. “I’m your man,” Vic tells him one evening. “Isn’t that enough for you?”

It is.

\--

Vic gets slapped with a six month jail sentence. It was bad luck for him and lucky break for the cop who caught him. Eddie picks him up the day he’s released.

There is a new tension in their silence. Vic was never particularly talkative but this is different. He smokes cigarette after cigarette as they drive. Eddie takes him to his apartment. He looked after it while Vic was gone.

Eddie wants to ask how Vic is doing but he’s reluctant to be the first to break the silence. They stand in the hallway outside Vic’s door. The other man lights a fourth cigarette and Eddie shifts his weight from foot to foot. He missed Vic a lot while he was gone and wants nothing more than to throw his arms around him and kiss him deeply, but there’s a barrier around him. It’s invisible but Eddie can sense its cold walls.

“I’ll catch you later,” Vic mumbles. “Thanks for the ride.”

Days pass before they bump into each other. It’s at a bar they both like to play pool at. Eddie discreetly brushes his hand over Vic’s to show some sign of affection, but the dark haired man snatches his hand away. “No,” he rumbles. He doesn’t want to be touched. It’s weeks before he lets Eddie touch him again, but even then it’s conditional. Vic is obsessed with being able to control the situation he’s in. Eddie is too afraid to ask what happened in jail.

Passing cops get venomous stares from Vic. There’s a hateful fire in his eyes that was never present before.

\--

Eddie turns twenty-five four months after Vic does. Vic is smiling again. They’re easy together like they were before Vic went to jail. Eddie promises him that as long as there’s something he can do about it, he’ll always try his hardest to keep Vic out of trouble if he gets into it. Vic says he has no plans to get arrested any time soon.

“I’m still happy,” Eddie tells him. About a year ago, Vic asked him if he was happy with where they were. Forgetting to ask about Eddie’s comfort level was on his list of _Things Not To Do_.

“Alright,” Vic replies hazily. Now that he’s satisfied he’s done his socially prescribed duty towards his _Person of Import,_ he is ready for sleep.

Eddie nuzzles his face against Vic’s neck. Things are better with Vic around. Nothing’s perfect; they have their rough days and Vic can be a fuckin angry prick, but on the whole Eddie is pleased with what he has.

Vic’s breathing is calming and rhythmic. Eddie begins to drift off, too.


End file.
